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I live in the DC area and this is entirely expected. Bezos owns the Washington Post and a very expensive DC home. Amazon's got data centers in Northern Virginia

I live in the DC area and this is entirely expected. Bezos owns the Washington Post and a very expensive DC home. Amazon's got data centers in Northern Virginia. We would've all been shocked if it went somewhere else.

mabbo 8y ago
But the entire point of the exercise wasn't to make Jeff happier and shorten his commute, it was to find a way to continue to grow without overloading Seattle any more than it already is. HQ2 needs to be somewhere that people want to live, with the room for lots of them. I really was hoping HQ2 would go somewhere more conservative politically. There's plenty of people who would work for Amazon but aren't really excited by Seattle (I'm not one of them, but I know some). Detroit specifically would have been perfect- low cost of living, lots of space to grow, great airport, lots of robotic/mechanical industry leaking from the failing car industry, plus UofM nearby. I don't know how they didn't make the finalists.
- tvanantwerp 8y ago
  I thought the point of the exercises was to get as many local government concessions as possible before making a decision whose outcome was fairly predictable in advance.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  >I really was hoping HQ2 would go somewhere more conservative politically... >Detroit specifically would have been perfect... ??? Detroit? Conservative?
fierro 8y ago
I don't follow this line of reasoning. Jeff Bezos decides where to put Amazon's new HQ based on how quickly he can get home? Demand for his time is probably already spread all over the globe, I'd imagine many of his important meetings happen over phone/conference daily. total guess, I have nothing to back this up
- nosefrog 8y ago
  They may be referring to the phenomenon where HQ's usually relocate closer to the CEO's home. https://ggwash.org/view/31563/ceos-want-faster-commutes-for-whom https://ggwash.org/view/31563/ceos-want-faster-commutes-for-...

mabbo 8y ago

But the entire point of the exercise wasn't to make Jeff happier and shorten his commute, it was to find a way to continue to grow without overloading Seattle any more than it already is. HQ2 needs to be somewhere that people want to live, with the room for lots of them. I really was hoping HQ2 would go somewhere more conservative politically. There's plenty of people who would work for Amazon but aren't really excited by Seattle (I'm not one of them, but I know some). Detroit specifically would have been perfect- low cost of living, lots of space to grow, great airport, lots of robotic/mechanical industry leaking from the failing car industry, plus UofM nearby. I don't know how they didn't make the finalists.

tvanantwerp 8y ago
I thought the point of the exercises was to get as many local government concessions as possible before making a decision whose outcome was fairly predictable in advance.
bilbo0s 8y ago
>I really was hoping HQ2 would go somewhere more conservative politically... >Detroit specifically would have been perfect... ??? Detroit? Conservative?

fierro 8y ago

I don't follow this line of reasoning. Jeff Bezos decides where to put Amazon's new HQ based on how quickly he can get home? Demand for his time is probably already spread all over the globe, I'd imagine many of his important meetings happen over phone/conference daily. total guess, I have nothing to back this up

nosefrog 8y ago
They may be referring to the phenomenon where HQ's usually relocate closer to the CEO's home. https://ggwash.org/view/31563/ceos-want-faster-commutes-for-whom https://ggwash.org/view/31563/ceos-want-faster-commutes-for-...